SH 163 
.M7 
Copy 1 



U. S. COMMISSION OF FISH AND FISHERIES, 
GEORGE M. BOWERS, Commissioner. 



AN INQUIRY 



INTO THE 



FEASIBILITY OF INTRODUCING USEFUL MARINE 

ANIMALS INTO THE WATERS OF 

GREAT SALT LAKE. 



II. F. MOORE 



Extracted from V, S. Fish CommissioD Report for 1899. Pages 229 to 250, Plate 7. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1899. 



\' 



\ 






AN INQUIRY 



INTO THE 



FEASIBILITY OF INTRODUCmG USEFUL MARINE ANIMALS INTO 
THE WATERS OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 



Bt H. F. MOORE. 



229 



AN INQUIRY INTO THE FEASIBILITY OF INTRODUCING USEFUL 

MARINE ANIMALS INTO THE WATERS OF 

GREAT SALT LAKE. 



By H. F. Moore. 



From time to time persons interested in the development of the 
resources of Utah have discussed the possibility of introducing into 
Great Salt Lake fishes and other animals of economic value which 
normally have their habitats in the salt and brackish waters of the sea 
and its estuaries. The matter has been called to the attention of the 
United States Fish Commission at frequent intervals, and some years 
ago a provisional promise to investigate the lake was made, but until 
1898 the opportunity to make the inquiry did not present itself. 

It occurred to the writer, while engaged in experiments in growing 
oysters in claires, that it might be possible to find places near the 
mouths of the rivers flowing into Great Salt Lake where the influx of 
fresh water would mitigate the brininess of the lake sufficiently to make 
the general conditions favorable for the introduction of that valuable 
mollusk. It was recognized, of course, that the area which, even under 
the best conditions, would be found to possess the requisite physical 
characteristics could not be very extensive, and that there was little 
hope of introducing marine fishes, for Great Salt Lake holds saltwater 
of a density which could not be endured by ordinary marine organisms. 
Where fresh water flows into the lake from the rivers there is formed 
a narrow zone of a density approaching that of the sea, lying between 
the fresh water on the one hand and the salt on the other. This zone 
occurs only near the mouths of streams, and its limits are so circum- 
scribed as to allow but small latitude for the wanderings of fish and 
other marine organisms possessing active powers of locomotion, and 
they would be restricted therefore in the exercise of one of their most 
important functions, and would be in constant danger of wandering 
into the surrounding water where the conditions would be fatal. The 
oyster, on the other hand, is a sessile organism, and, if its immediate 
surroundings be favorable, a restricted area does not prohibit oyster 
culture of a certain character, except in so much as it correspondingly 
restricts the number of oysters which it is possible to raise. 

Influenced by these considerations, inquiry was made of persons 
interested in the matter and resident in the vicinity of the lake, and 
the replies indicated that there were certain places near the mouths of 
the rivers where one might expect to find the fresh and salt waters 

231 



232 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

blending in a manner which would satisfy the requirements so far as 
the density was concerned. 

Preliminary experiments had shown that diatoms, which constitute 
the chief food of the oyster, would grow in Salt Lake water when it 
was reduced in density within the limits in which the oyster would 
thrive, and it was believed that they would be actually found in the lake 
under the same density conditions. This assumption was afterwards 
verified by the investigation. Sufficient warrant was then apparent for 
an investigation which, if it had no other results, would at least set at 
rest any future agitation and uncertainty concerning the matter. 

The scope of the inquiry was enlarged to embrace the question of the 
feasibility of introducing not only the oyster, but also crabs and fishes, 
although probably nobody in the Commission had any expectation of 
favorable results from either, and perhaps with the exception of the 
writer none had much hope of a favorable report concerning the oyster. 

From its configuration, and from the information which it was pos- 
sible to acquire by correspondence. Bear Eiver Bay was selected as the 
first and principal point for investigation, although, after the unfavor- 
able result of the examination there, inquiry was directed to all other 
places which offered any promise of success. About three weeks were 
consumed in the inquiry. 

In order to make the results intelligible considerable attention is 
given in the report to a resume of the hydrographic, physical, and 
chemical features of the lake and its drainage systems, as it is upon 
these, rather than upon the purely biological conditions, that the 
unfavorable character of the conclusions is based. 

GREAT SALT LAKE DRAINAGE BASIN. 

The drainage basin of Great Salt Lake comprises about 54,000 square 
miles, principally in northern and northwestern Utah, but including 
also a small part of southwestern Wyoming and southeastern Idaho. 
Practically all of the water discharged by streams into the lake is 
derived from the eastern part of its drainage basin, where the high 
peaks of th^ Wasatch and Uinta ranges interrupt and cool the moisture- 
laden winds and cause them to deposit their aqueous contents in the 
form of snow and rain. During the winter great stores of snow 
accumulate in the mountains to be released during the spring months, 
and in some of the higher and more sheltered ravines snow banks per- 
sist throughout the year. Owing to the late melting of the snows in 
the mountains the rivers discharge their maximum amount of water 
late in spring and the cumulative effect is to bring the lake to its 
maximum elevation late in June. 

There are three principal drainage systems — the Bear, the Weber, 
and the Jordan — all of which enter the lake on the east side. In addi- 
tion, there are a number of small streams and creeks, which, in the 
main, are more heavily charged than the rivers with saline materials. 
Most of them flow from the Oquirrh and Promontory ranges. On the 



EXAMINATION OF WATERS OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 233 

western side of the lake there are no high luouii tains, and as there is 
nothing therefore to abstract the moisture from the winds there is 
practically no drainage into the lake from the westward. 

The laud on the west side is, in general, a desert with scattered short 
mountain rauges of small altitude and the isolated, partly buried buttes 
and peaks commonly called " lost mountains." 

BEAR RIVER. 

Bear River rises in the northern part of Utah in a number of small 
streams which spring from the east slope of the Wasatch Mountains 
and the north slope of the Uinta Mountains, at an altitude of about 
10,000 feet. The course of the stream is at first northerly, several 
times crossing and recrossing the boundary line between Utah and 
Wyoming and receiving on its way many small streams from mountain 
ravines. At Border Station the Bear Kiver finally leaves Wyoming, 
and enteriug Idaho is deflected to the northwest as far as Soda Si)rings, 
where it circles the end of the Bear River Mountains and takes a 
southerly course. 

Bear Lake, about 22 miles long by 7 miles wide, lies across the 
boundary line between Idaho and Utah, being contained in about 
equal parts in each State. North of the lake is an extensive marsh, 
sej)arated from it by a long, low ridge of sand thrown up by the waves 
to a height of from 2 to 5 feet above the water level, and pierced in two 
places by narrow passages, through which the water flows from the lake 
into the marsh, or from the marsh into the lake, depending u])on the 
relative level of each. 

Bear River flows tlirougli the northern and eastern part of the marsh, 
flooding it in times of high water and draining it during dry seasons, 
and from the conditions stated it follows that the lake to some extent 
acts as a reservoir, receiving some of the surplus water during flood and 
relinquishing it again when the river falls. Three million whitefish 
fry were planted in this lake by the United States Fish Commission 
in March, 1896, but no evidence has been received that this attempt to 
introduce the species was successful. 

South of Soda Springs the Bear River flows through the fertile Gen- 
tile and Cache valleys, the principal tributaries in this region being the 
Cub River and the several branches of the Logan River on the east and 
the Malade River on the west bank. 

In its lower reaches, below Corinne and the mouth of the Malade 
River, the river meanders through a low jjlain used in part for grazing, 
the width of the stream here measuring between 00 and 75 yards. In 
the northern part of section 31, townshii) 9 north, range 3 west, it first 
breaks from its well-defined channel and a large part of its water 
escapes in two overflows, which spread out into a, broad, shallow lake, 
extending over a large section of what is indicated on the maps as dry 
land and known to the duck hunters as Bear River Bay. 

A few miles lower in its course the river again breaks out in a series 
of overflows, one of which discharges northward through a shallow 



234 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

lagoon locally called "Section Tom's Bay," and the others flowing 
southward into South Bay, an equally shallow lake of fresh water lying 
in the bottom which was covered by the lake during the period of high 
water between 1865 and 1890. Below the point of efflux of these sev- 
eral "overflows," the main channel of the river, as it existed at the 
time of the Stansbury survey and the low-water stage of that period, 
has become almost filled up and reduced to the status of a muddy 
slough. The course of this channel can still be traced in -part by the 
stumps of the willows which formerly fringed the banks but were 
killed by the encroaching salt water of the lake and afterwards cut ofi" 
by the ice that formed on the fresh water above and drifted about 
under the influence of the wind. 

It is evident that during the late period of high water, when the 
encroachment of the lake upon the land caused the river to discharge 
farther eastward than is shown upon the map, the silt and sediment 
brought down by the current were deposited in the old bed and when 
the lake again subsided the river was forced to seek new channels with 
the resultant changes in the topography noted above. 

Below the upper overflows the country to the northward of the 
river bank is marshy and overgrown with tules (a species of Schyus), 
the gathering-place of vast flocks of waterfowl, and below the lower 
overflows the south side of the river is of the same character. The 
land map on file at the court-house in Brigham City shows surveyed 
sections on the north side of the river which are in reality under 
water (the " Bear Eiver Bay " mentioned above), even at the present low 
stage of water, while on the south side the recession of the water has 
exposed a large area of alkali flats and miry clay which was recently 
part of the lake bed. 

The flow of water in Bear Kiver is subject to great seasonal variation, 
as is shown in the following table recording tlie discharge as measured 
at Oolinston, Utah, in 1897, according to Professor Fortier : 



Date. 



Jan. 1-. 
Jan. 5. 
Jan. 10. 
Jan. 15. 
.Jan. 20. 
Jan. 25. 
Jan. 30. 
Feb. 5. 
Feb. 10. 
Peb. 15. 
Feb. 20. 
Feb. 25 
Feb. 28 
Mar. 5 . 
Mar. 10 
Mar. 15 
Mar. 20 
Mar. 25 
Mar. 30 
Apr. 5 . 
Apr. 10 
Apr. 15 



Cubic I 
feet per, 
second. 



480 I 

u25 

590 

590 

275 

375 

375 

375 

590 

375 

375 

375 

375 

375 

375 

375 

375 

375 

570 

570 

990 

090 



Date. 



Cubic 
feet per I 
second 



Apr. 20. 
Apr. 25. 
Apr. 30. 
May 5. . 
May 111. 
May 15. 
May 20. 
May 25. 
May 30. 
June 5 . 
June 10 
Juno 15 
Juno 20 
June 25 
June 30 
Julys.. 
July 10. 
Julv 15. 
July 20. 
July 25 . 
JulyiiO. 
Aug. 5 . 



900 
415 
602 
6tl5 
165 
665 
295 
005 
295 
540 
500 
805 
990 
035 
570 
445 
930 
590 
375 
375 
142 
100 



I Cubic 
feet per 
I second. 



Aug. 10 
Aug. 15 
Aug. 20 
Aug. 25 
Aug. 30 
Sept. 5. 
Sept. 10 
Sept. 15 
Sept. 20 
Sept. 25 
.Sept. 30 
Oct. 5 . . 
Oct. 10 . 
Oct. 15 . 
Oct. 20 . 
Oct. 25 . 
Oct. 30 . 
Dec. 5.. 
Dec. 10. 
Dec. 15. 
Dec. 20. 



100 
100 
025 
990 
955 
100 
185 
230 
185 
185 
275 
230 
590 
872 
872 
930 
095 
275 
375 
590 
695 



EXAMINATION OF WATERS OF GREAT 8 ALT LAKE. 235 

The water of Bear Eiver at the head of the upper overflow is turbid, 
and ordinarily a large portion of the mud would be precipitated in the 
shallow lagoons which retard the currents near the river's mouth, a part 
of it being again taken up and carried into the lake during the spring 
and summer high water. Curiously, however, these lagoons are not 
permitted to serve as settling reservoirs during the spring and fall, 
owing to immense flocks of waterfowl which keep the muddy bottom 
continually stirred up. During a large part of the year, therefore, the 
river is discharging a heavy volume of sediment into Bear Eiver Bay, 
which in its upper end, on this account, has become very shallow, with 
a bottom composed in the main of soft, deep, sticky mud. In a few 
places the bottom is firm enough to support oysters on the surface, 
but in most places a person wading will sink to the knees. 

The water in the lagoons near the mouth of the river is quite fresh. 
An analysis by F. W. Clarke of the water, at Evanston, Wyo., show^ed 
the following probable constituents in grams per liter : Calcium car- 
bonate, .1080; magnesium carbonate, .0438; sodium sulphate, .0155; 
sodium chloride, .0081; silica, .0070. The quantities are so small that 
the saliuometer is not appreciably affected even at the mouth of the 
river, where it must be supposed that the proportions of the several 
substances, or some of them, are greater, owing to the leaching out of 
the salt lands near the lake. It was to this locality that some of the 
I)reliminary correspondence pointed as a favorable place for the intro- 
duction of the oyster, but the observations just noted make it evident 
that these waters are entirely without the pale of consideration in this 
connection. It is probable, however, that the cat-fish might be intro- 
duced here with considerable hope of success and a fish supply of 
some commercial importance to the surrounding country might be thus 
obtained. 

JORDAN RIVER. 

Utah Lake, which is the reservoir from which the Jordan derives its 
main supply, lies in Utah Valley about 40 miles south of Great Salt 
Lake. It is about 20 miles long with a maximum width of about 8 
miles, its dimensions being subject to considerable seasonal and non- 
periodic variations. It derives its main water supply from streams 
entering the east side of the lake from the Wasatch Mountains. The 
largest of these is Provo River, which rises in canyons on the west side 
of the Uinta Mountains and, breaking through the Wasatch Eauge, 
empties into the lake near its middle, in the vicinity of Provo City. 
Four or five other streams enter it from the east and south, but they 
are very small, except during April, May, and June. Fed as it is by 
a fluctuating supply, the lake level undergoes great oscillations, in its 
turn affecting the discharge of the Jordan, through which all of the 
surplus water is carried. 

The Jordan leaves Utah Lake at its northern end and soon after 
passes through a gap in the Traverse Mountains at a point where the 



236 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

discharge from a former greater Utah Lake has cut a deep channel, 
now characterized by rapids. !North of the "I:^ arrows" the Jordan 
receives a number of small tributaries from the canyons of the Wasatch, 
but a large part of the water of these streams is utilized for irrigation 
purposes in Salt Lake Yalley and furnishes the water supply of Salt 
Lake City. In its lower part the river runs through an alkali plain. 
It flows in a well-defined channel until it reaches a point west of 
Woods Cross, where the channel forks, the western fork almost imme- 
diately breaking uj) into a series of tortuous channels in a marsh. The 
eastern branch maintains its integrity to a greater extent, but the 
whole country below the forks forms a marshy delta, cut up by sloughs 
and lagoons, with a bottom of soft mud supporting a growth of sedges 
and tules. In many of the lagoons a dense growth of watercress 
forms a mattress rising sometimes as much as 2 feet above the water 
level. 

The only really firm ground in the delta is formed by a sandy tract, 
extending perhaps a mile parallel to the east channel, and destitute of 
vegetation. This is stated to be the filled channel of the river before 
the late high-water level in the lake. 

As at Bear River, the water in the lagoons is practically fresh, a 
sample taken in the east channel of the river where it enters the lake 
having a density of 1.0008. The following is the probable composition 
of the solid matter in solution in the water at the source of the river 
in Utah Lake, as deduced from the analyses made by F. W. Clarke, in 
1883, the figures representing grams to the liter of water: Calcium 
carbonate, .0038 ; magnesium carbonate, .0641 ; sodium carbonate, .0204 ; 
calcium sulphate, .1849; sodium chloride, .0204; silica, .0100. It will 
be noticed that this water differs from that in Bear River in the much 
smaller content of calcium carbonate, in the presence of a large pro- 
portional amount of calcium sulphate and some sodium carbonate, and 
in the absence of sodium sulphate. This represents the main supply of 
the Jordan, but the composition is to some extent modified by the 
influx of the several creeks entering the river betow Utah Lake, and 
by the mineral matter leached out of the alkali lands. Its salinity, 
however, is so low that there is no possibility whatever of introducing 
marine species, such as crabs, in the lagoons of the delta, and there is 
no necessity, therefore, to consider the probable i)hysiological effects of 
the several mineral constituents upon fishes and other aquatic life. 

Unfortunately the Jordan River has not been systematically gauged, 
and its annual oscillation can not be shown, as in the case of Bear and 
Weber rivers. It undergoes the same variation, however, discharging 
most water in July and least in early spring. At its maximum it 
carries much less than the Bear, and at its minimum it has about three- 
fourths of the flow of that river, its annual oscillation being, therefore, 
less than in the case of either of the other rivers considered in this 
report, owing to the fact that its flow is regulated by the reservoir 
function of Utah Lake. The lake off the mouth of the Jordan River 
may therefore be considered to have a smaller annual fluctuation in 



EXAMINATION OF WATERS OP GREAT SALT LAKE. 237 

density, so far as the influx of fresh water is concerned, than it has in 
corres])onding relation to either the liear or the Weber; that is, leaving 
out of consideration the effects of the wind in directing the flow of the 
strongly saline water of the lake, there is less liability of a fatal varia- 
tion due to the influx of fresh water from the river. If, we will saj', 
oysters were ijut down during the low- water stage of the river; near 
the outer limit marking the location of the maximum density in which 
they will live, it is not certain that the water during the flood season 
would become freshened below the minimum density in which they 
thrive. But taking into consideration the fact that the outer limits of 
the zone of favorable density move landward during the prevalence of 
north winds, owing to the encroachments of the briny water of the 
lake, it is evident that in so locating our plant as to prevent the one 
catastrophe we would invite another. 

As compared with the Bear River the waters at the mouth of the 
Jordan are clear and the mud of the lake bottom is harder and not so 
deep. This is doubtless owing in part to the deposit of a larger i>ro- 
portion of the suspended matter in the sluggish water of the lagoons 
and sloughs, where it is not stirred up by the waterfowl, as on the Bear 
River. In many places the bottom on the alluvial fan is quite hard, 
and covered with a vegetable felting or carpet composed largely of 
diatoms. This is especially the case in the shoaler, fresher water, to 
which places, however, the saline waters find frequent access. The 
zone of mixed water Is here broader than at the mouth of the Bear or 
Weber. 

WEBER RIVER. 

The Weber River rises in the high ridges of the Avestern part of the 
Uinta Mountains, between the sources of the Bear River on the north 
and the Provo River on the south. It receives a number of tributaries 
on both banks, but none of considerable importance except the Ogden 
River, which joins it at Ogden. 

Below Ogden the Weber runs through low laud, and eventually 
breaks into two branches, one of which flows to the north, the other to 
the south. The northern branch divides and subdivides, part of it 
being lost in the swampy flats and part flowing into a shallow bay (not 
shown on the map), which is connected with the lake north of Mud 
Island. This bay, which was formed during the recent subsidence of 
the lake, is about 2 miles long and ^ mile wide, with an average depth 
of about 4 inches. The southern branch enters the lake 4 or 5 miles 
west of Hooper, opposite Fremont Island. The channel remains undi- 
vided to its mouth, and it carries ]>ractically the whole discharge of the 
river except during the spring floods. In October, 1898, the north 
channel was almost dry. 

The Weber River is subject to greater and more sudden fluctuations 
than either the Bear or Jordan, <l()ul»tless on account of the absence 
of natural storage reservoirs, such as are found in the lakes on the other 
rivers. 



238 REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The discharge as measured at Devil's Gate, Weber Canyon, during 
1897 was as follows : 



Date. 



Cubic 

feet per 
second. 



Jan. 1 . . 
Jan. 5 .. 
Jan. 10 . 
Jan. 15 . 
Jan. 20 . 
Jan. 25 . 
Jan. 80 . 
i^eb. 5 . . 
Feb. 10 . 
Peb.15. 
Peb. 20 . 
Feb. 25 . 
Feb. 28 . 
Mar. 5.. 
Mar. ]U. 
Mar. 15. 
Mar. 20. 
Mar. 25. 
Mar. 30. 
Apr. 5 . . 
Apr. 10. 
Apr, 15. 
Apr. 20. 
Apr. 25. 
Apr. 30. 



360 
360 
360 
360 
310 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
310 
310 
310 
415 
360 
360 
785 
785 
275 
275 
910 
610 
640 
610 



May 5 , 

Maj- 10 , 

May 15 

May 20 

May 25 

May 30 

June 5 

June 10 

June 15 

June 20 

June 25 

June 30 

Julys 

July 10 

July 15 

July 20 

July 25 

July 30 

Aug.5 

Aug. 10 

Aug. 15 

Aug. 20. ..-■». 

Aug. 25 

Aug. 30 



Cubic 
feet per 
second. 



5,397 

4,557 

4,820 

4, 715 

4,400 

3,340 

2,590 

1,615 

1,275 

1,175 

785 

335 

220 

220 

220 

185 

185 

185 

185 

185 

185 

185 

185 

185 



Cubic 
feet per 
second. 



Sept. 5 . . 
Sept. 10. 
Sept. 15. 
Sept. 20. 
Sept. 25. 
Sept. 30. 
Oct. 5... 
Oct. 10.. 
Oct. 15.. 
Oct. 20.. 
Oct. 25.- 
Oct.30.. 
Nov. 5.. 
Nov. 10. 
Nov. 15. 
Nov. 20. 
Nov. 25. 
Nov. 30. 
Dec. 5 .. 
Dec. 10 . 
Dec. 15 . 
Dec. 20 . 
Dec. 25 . 
Dec. 30 . 



185 
220 
220 
270 
270 
415 
545 
545 
545 
545 
545 
545 
480 
480 
480 
480 
415 
415 
415 
415 
415 
415 
415 
415 



A volume of water, very considerable as comijared with the ordinary 
flow of the stream, is diverted from the Weber Eiver for purposes of 
irrigation. 

The main channel discharges over a well-defined fan, which extends 
about 1^ miles from the present shore line. The shores here are formed 
by a part of the delta laid down during a higher stage of water than 
now obtains, and the slope is so gradual that the position of the water 
line fluctuates widely under the influence of the winds and slight 
changes in the lake level, a rise of an inch changing the position of 
the shore line north of the river mouth by several hundred yards. 

The water on the fan is practically fresh, but at its edge, where the 
slope becomes more abrupt, the density falls rapidly. On October 18, 
1898, about Vj miles from shore the salinometer registered a density of 
1.0315 in a depth of 1 foot ; 50 yards nearer the shore the depth had 
decreased to 7 inches and the density to 1.0040; 50 yards farther in 
the depth was 5 inches and the density 1.0020, and 100 yards farther 
the readings were 4 inches and 1.0005, respectively. The water on the 
fan was clear, but the salt water around the rim had a milky appear- 
ance, probably due to the imperfect solution of its saline contents on 
account of its low temperature, 12° 0. ^53.6° F.). The bottom on the 
delta is generally firm and there is an abundant growth of diatoms. 
Both of these conditions are favorable to the growth of oysters, but the 
density is fatal and the extreme shallowness objectionable. 

BRACKISH SPRINGS. 

After the completion of the examination of the lake at the mouths of 
the main streams flowing into it, it appeared desirable to investigate 
some of the numerous brackish springs which are characteristic of the 



EXAMINATION OF WATERS OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 239 

country bordering on Great Salt Lake. It was thought that perhaps 
by utilizing some of the ponds to wiiich they give rise, or by construct- 
ing artificial ponds or claires and regulating the flow of water, the 
density might be so regulated as to secure the requisite conditions. 
The springs selected for examiuation were those flowing from the end of 
the Oquirrh Mountains south of Saltaire and Garfield Beach. 

At Chambers Station there is a group of springs on the property of 
Mr. Anderson, most of them iu the bottom of a small pond in which 
carj) and trout have been introduced by the owner, both being said to 
thrive. A small spring on the margin of the pond had a density of 
1.0003; about 50 yards below the discharge of the pond the density 
was 1.0012; about 250 yards below it was 1.0018, and about half a mile 
from the pond it had risen to 1.0019, all densities being corrected to 
15° C. Near the place at which the last reading was taken a sluggish 
spring rises from a deep hole with abrupt margins, the density there 
being 1.0014. In the stream forming the discharge of the pond confer- 
void algae in abundance and several schools of small fish were seen. 
There is a copious discharge of water from the pond, and the flow, 
which was not measured, is said to vary but little with the seasons. In 
the lower course of this stream the land becomes somewhat boggy and 
much of the water is lost through evaporation over the increased sur- 
face thus produced. 

Two springs were next examined on the property of Mr. Spencer, 
several miles west of Chambers station, on the road to Black Rock. 
They rise between the highway and the railroad. The east spring has a 
density of 1.0003 at its source, and the west spring 1.0013 at the railroad 
and 1.0015 about 200 yards below. Both of them flow through boggy 
ground, and their courses are much choked with algte and watercress. 

Near Black Rock are two springs just south of the highway and about 
half a mile from the lake. The eastern one, which is the larger, has a 
density of I.OOIG, the most saline spring examined. The flow from this 
spring exceeds that of any others except that at Chambers station. 
The second spring, about one-fourth mile west of the one just described, 
is much smaller and has a density of 1.0018. 

Oysters will live in water of a density or specific gravity between 
1.002 and about 1.0024, but near the limits mentioned they are inferior 
in quality and of but little value as food. In water of low density they 
become poor, flabby, and tasteless, while near the upper limits of their 
adaptability they become small and almost worthless, as may be seen 
in the mangrove oysters in certain parts of the South and in some of 
the West Indies. To raise oysters of the best quality it is necessary to 
have the water of such salinity as will give a specific gravity of between 
1.010 and 1.020. 

It will be observed that none of the springs examined has a density 
within the limits which experience has indicated as most favorable for 
the production of sapid oysters, but the eastern or larger spring at 
Black Rock is saline enough to support adult oysters and to admit of 



240 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

their breeding. In all probability, therefore, provided that the chem- 
ical constituents of the water were not such as to prove iujuinous, self- 
sustaining oyster beds might be established in the waters flowing from 
this spring, but their quality would not be sufflciently good to warrant 
the attempt. 

If, however, this water were conducted into shallow jDonds the evap- 
oration would tend to raise the density. The evaporation at Salt Lake 
City is about 75 inches per annum and the rainfall about 50 inches, so 
that the net loss in fresh water is about 2 feet per year. A i)ond 2J 
feet deep and without an outlet would by solar evaporation alone have 
its density raised to within the desired limits in less than two years, 
provided sufficient water from the spring be introduced from time to 
time to replace that lost by evaporation. If no water be allowed to 
escape from the pond save by evaporation, there will be speedily repro- 
duced in miniature the conditions jirevailing in Great Salt Lake and the 
density would soon rise to a degree fatal to the oyster. After the pond 
lias reached the desired salinity, however, it may be maintained within 
the proper limits by regulation of the intake and outlet sluices, the 
inflowing stream of lower density tending to reduce the salinity of 
the pond by replacing the denser water which flows from the outlet. 
By a nice adjustment of the influent and effluent streams it would be 
possible to regulate the density within comparatively narrow limits with 
a minimum of personal attention on the part of the operator. Two 
conditions are imposed by the problem: (a) The inflow must equal the 
amount of water lost by evaporation, plus the quantity flowing out of 
the pond, minus that which is gained from the rainfall in the pond; {b) 
the smaller amount of dense water flowing out must contain the same 
amount of salt as the larger amount of less dense water flowing in. 

GREAT SALT LAKE. 

Great Sait Lake is situated in the northwestern part of Utah, west 
of the Wasatch Mountains, being embraced within the limits of Box 
Elder, Weber, Salt Lake, and Toelle counties. Its length is about 80 
miles, lying in a northwest-southeast direction, and its greatest width 
is about 35 miles. In 1869 it had, according to King's survey, an area 
of 2,170 square miles, this being the maximum area within historic 
times. At the present time it has decreased to approximately the 
dimensions shown on the Stansbury map of 1850, when it had an area 
of about 1,750 square miles, 20 per cent less than in 1869. Its maximum 
depth, according to Stansbury, was 30 feet; and the King survey, made 
at the time of highest water within recent years, reports a depth of 
49 feet. The shrinkage since 1869 has been approximately 10 feet, so 
that the maximum depth is not far from 38 or 39 feet at present. The 
deepest water is west of the Promontory, the water east of that penin- 
sula and Anteh)pc Island being comparatively shoal and gradually 
becoming shoaler by the deposit of silt from the rivers. 

The principal islands are Fremont and Antelope, in line between the 



Report U.S.F.C- 1899. 




/lOJACEMT COITN'TRY 

STATE OF UTAH 

<i from tX( Surveys of 
Cat>l Howard StoHJbury inl849. 
Cop' C E DuUoii in 1879 

ATI A 

Olliir Public and Pi-ivati 
by 
C Mostyn- Owen. CE 

Ma)- IS 1891. 



EXAMINATION OF WATERS OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 241 

Promontory and Oquirrh mountains, and Carrin<<ton and Stansbury 
islands, forming a similar chain farther west. At the present stage of 
water Stansbury Island is connected with the shore, and Antelope 
Island may be reached with little difficulty by fording. Mud Island, 
usually known as Little Mountain, now rises from the mud flats north 
of the Weber, but during the recent high-water stage it was an island 
in fact. 

As is well known. Great Salt Lake is a relic of a great fresh-water or 
brackish sea. Lake Bonneville, the history of which in geologic times 
is written in the ancient beaches which terrace the mountain sides 
which formed its shores. This lake had its fluctuations in level, rising 
and falling probably in correlation to fluctuations in meteorological 
conditions, but eventually its surface rose until it stood more than a 
thousand feet above the present level of Great Salt Lake, when it 
S])illed over the crest of an alluvial dam in Eed Eock Pass and dis- 
charged in a mighty river into the drainage system of the Columbia. 
The erosive ])owers of this discharge over the loosely aggregated 
alluvial matter soon cut a deep channel and the surface of the lake in 
a short time fell nearly 400 feet, when further erosion was retarded by 
the hard rock which was then reached, and the size of the effluent 
stream thereafter was much diminished and became a factor of the 
excess of precipitation over evaporation in the Bonneville hydrographic 
basin, the lake level remaining approximately stationary. 

At a later period increasing aridity caused an excess of evaporation 
over precipitation, the lake fell below the level of its outlet, and its 
succeeding shrinkage in volume was due to a gradual process of desic- 
cation. In its process of drying up the ancient Lake Bonneville was 
divided into several portions, three of which, of considerable size, exist 
as lakes of the present day. Of these. Great Salt Lake and Sevier Lake 
are strongly saline, while Utah Lake, whose drainage basin receives 
more water than is carried oft' by evaporation, has become fresh by the 
continued discharge of its saline matter into Great Salt Lake via the 
Jordan Eiver. 

Historical knowledge of Great Salt Lake dates practically from the 
time of the Mormon immigration into the valley, although it had been 
visited previously by adventurous travelers and trappers. At the time 
of the settlement of Salt Lake City, in 1847, the lake was at a lower level 
than it has since reached, and at the time of the first survey, in 18."jO, 
its shores bore evidence that it had been at the existing stage for a 
long time antecedent. Soon after, however, it began to rise, until in 
1857 it stood nearly 4 feet above the level of 1850, its surface being at 
about a feet on the Garfield gauge, established at a later period. By 
1860 it had fallen again to its former stage, but in 1864 there began a 
rapid swelling in volume which carried it to its maximum elevation 
during historic times, in 1868, when it stood at a height of over 13 feet, 
as referred to the zero of the Garfield gauge. From the high- water 
stage then reached the lake has fallen in level, with periods of tempo- 

F C 99 Ifi 



242 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AMD FISHERIES. 

rary expansion i)roducing secondary maxima in 1876 and 1SS7, until in 
the fall of 1898 it stood at about 2.^ feet on the Garfield gauge, or 
barely a foot above the level of the corresponding season of 1850. 

In addition to the nouperiodic oscillation described, there is also an 
annual fluctuation, due to the temperature and precipitation character- 
istics of the region, the lake reaching its maximum elevation in June 
and its minimum in November. This is referred to, as follows, by 
G. K. Gilbert, in his monograph on Lake Bonneville : 

The cause of thia annual variation is at once apparent. The chief accessions of 
■water to the lake are from the melting of snow on the mountains, and this occurs in 
the spring, occasioning the rise of the water from March to June. Water escapes 
from the lake only by evaporation, and evaporation is most rapid in the summer. 
Before the influx from melting snow has ceased it is antagonized by the rapidly 
increasing evaporation, and as soon as it ceases the surface is quickly lowered. In 
autumn the rate of evaporation gradually diminishes ; in November it barely equals 
the tribute of the spring-fed streams, and in winter it is overpowered by such 
aqueous product of mountain storms as is not stored up in snow banks. 

There is still another variation affecting the lake level locally, 
although its average level is not disturbed. Under the influence of 
strong winds the water is rolled up on the shelving lee shores to a 
height of several feet above the normal water line, while on the oppo- 
site or windward shores there is a corresponding depression. Even 
with gentle winds, not exceeding 6 or 8 miles per hour in velocity, the 
writer has known the water to rise an inch or two on the flats forming 
the eastern shore of the lake between the deltas of the Bear and Weber 
rivers. 

Each of these variations in the lake's level has an important indirect 
bearing on the subject of the present investigation, the first two affect- 
ing the salinity of the lake both generally and locally, while the third 
has a purely local eftect. It is evident that as. the water rises, during 
either an annual or a nonperiodical elevation, the general density of 
the lake water must decrease, for the increased volume is due to the 
addition of fresh water, and the total quantity of salt in the lake 
remains practically, though not absolutely, the same. During a period 
of subsidence the contrary is true, although some of the saline matter 
is left by desiccation ujion the shores from which the water has receded, 
part of this being gradually returned to the lake by leaching and part 
of it being covered and entrapped in the soil. There are no data avail- 
able to illustrate the effects of the annual oscillation, but the effects of 
the nouperiodic fluctuation are shown in the following table: 



Sp. gr. 



liocalitj'. 



Authority. 



1850 

]869 (summer). . 
1873 (August) . . . 
1885 (December), 
1889( August) .. 
1892 (August) ... 
1897 (November) 



1.170 
1.111 
1.102 
1. 122 
1.157 
1.156 
1.168 



Garflekl Beach 



L. D. Dale. 
O. D.Alleu. 
H. Bassett. 
J. E. Talmage. 

Do. 
E. Waller. 
H. F. Moore. 



EXAMINATION OF WATERS OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 243 

It will be observed that the foregoing accords in general with the 
history of the oscillations of the lake, a low density being coincident 
with a period of high water, and conversely. For a variety of reasons, 
principally because Of the nonconformity in the location and other 
conditions of the collection of samples, there is not an absolute agree- 
ment. 

The density of the lake varies in its different parts, being lowest close 
to the mouths of the rivers and highest near dry shelving shores. In 
the latter case the density is raised by evaporation in the shallow water 
until it sometimes reaches the saturation point and the salt is crystal- 
lized out and precipitated on the bottom. The process is aided, of 
coarse, by the fact that the lake has no appreciable semidiurnal tides, 
which would tend to produce a more equable distribution of its saline 
contents. The circulation, however, in the deeper waters removed from 
the river mouths is probably sufficient to make the density uniform 
over large areas. 

^enr the mouths of the rivers the density is largely conditioned by 
the volume of fresh water brought down by tlie stream. When the 
discharge is heavy the dense water of the lake is pushed back and 
the zone at which the mingling of the fresh and salt waters occurs is 
farther from shore than when the discharge is light. If the rivers 
maintained an approximately even flow during the year this fact could 
not materially affect the feasibility of introducing marine animals, such 
as the oyster, for the zone of admixture would remain, other things 
being constant, at approximately the same position. It happens,' how- 
ever, that the rivers discharging into Great Salt Lake pass through 
annual oscillations of great magnitude, the maximum and minimum flow 
of Bear River in 1897, according to the hgures published by Professor 
Fortier, and previously quoted, being about as 15 to 2, and of Weber 
River in the proportion of about 28 to 1. Data for the Jordan Eiver 
are not available. It will be seen, therefore, that the fluctuations in 
the position of what we may call the neutral zone, in which the water 
has a density of between 1.01 and 1.02, must be very great. Again, 
during nouperiodic stages of high water — as, for instance, that culmin- 
ating in 1869 — the salt water encroaches on the fresh, and some of the 
former fresh-water channels of the rivers become converted into more 
or less saline estuaries. 

The annual oscillations would probably afiect the local density to a 
smaller degree, partly because the influence of the higher level of the 
lake would be masked by the greater inflow of fresh water, as it occurs 
synchronously, not with the maximum, but still with a high stage of 
water in the river, and partly by reason of the fact that the rise is not 
so great as in the nonperiodic oscillations. 

Another factor which tends to produce variations in the salinity are 
the irregular changes in the lake's level, due to the action of the wind. 
As before stated, winds of even moderate intensity tend to back up 
the water on flat lee shores, with the result that the denser water 



244 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

moves landward aud would inevitably increase the salinity over the 
areas on which oysters could be planted, and an oftshore wind would 
tend to produce a fall in salinity. In other words, the neutral zone of 
water, just saline enough to be favorable to oyster life, has no fixed posi- 
tion, but moves shoreward or lakeward in conformity with the direction 
of the prevailing wind. 

The rapidity with which these changes may take place is remarkable, 
as illustrated by the following observations made from an anchored 
boat in Bear Eiver Bay on October 10, 1898 : 



Time. 


Density. 


3.00 
3.15 
3.25 
8.30 


1. 0210 
1. 0244 
1. 0274 
1. 031+ 



In the last reading the density was too great to^ be read with tin- 
salinometers used, but it greatly exceeded 1.031. 

A few days later, at the mouth of the Jordan, the density was found 
to change from 1.009 to 1.0141 within 5 minutes. In both cases there 
was a lake breeze blowing at a velocity estimated to not exceed 8 miles 
an hour. The salt water crept into the less salt in long tonguelike 
streaks, the progress of which could be readily distinguished by their 
color. 

In Bear Eiver Bay, at 12.30 o'clock, on October 10, 1898, the density 
near the north end of "The Knoll" ou the promontory was 1.003, at 
5.15 o'clock it was 1.011, and at 8 o'clock next morning it had risen to 
1.015. The density was, perhaps, higher during the night, as the wind 
was southerly at nightfall, when the salinity was increasing; but in 
the moruing it had veered to the north, which would tend to blow the 
salt water lakeward again. 

The " neutral zone" appears to be at all times comparatively narrow. 
This was best illustrated by observations made at the southern mouth 
of the Weber Eiver, where the fresh water is discharged over an allu- 
vial fan. At the edge of the delta, where its slope begins to increase 
in its deflection from the horizontal, the water was found to have a 
density of 1.031 in a depth of 1 foot; 50 yards nearer the shore, where 
the depth had decreased to 7 inches, the density had fallen to 1.004; 50 
yards farther on it was 1.002, and 100 yards farther it was but 1.0005, 
or practically fresh. The zone of water of a density suitable for the 
growth of oysters was certainly not more than 25 yards wide, although 
it extended around the entire rim of the delta. 

At the mouth of Bear Eiver the neutral zone was wider, but the dis- 
tribution of the salinity was so irregular that it is impossible to state 
its width. A complication was introduced, here by the fact that the 
density was undergoing rapid change from the efl'ect of the wind, as 
has been already set forth. 



EXAMINATION OF WATERS OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 245 

The observations made are recorded in the following table: 



Sta- 
tion. 



Locatiun. 



50 yards off north point of knoll 
on proinontorv. 

1,000 yards south 

1,500 yard« south 

1,800 yards south 

2,100 yards south 

2,400 yards south 

500 yards east 

1,000 yards east 

1,300 yards east 

1,500 yards east 

400 yards north 

900 yards north 

1 ,400 yards north 

1,700 yards north 

1,900 vards north 



Density. 



1.003 

1.010 
1.005 
1. 012 
1.027 

00 * 

1.027 
1.022 



1. 0255 
1.0215 
1.210 



Sta- 
tion. 



Location. 



Density. 



2, 100 yards north 

2,200 yards north (point of knoll 
S. of W. ) 

2, 500 yards north 

100 yards east 

Same (15 m. later) 

Same (10 ni. later) 

Same (5 m. later) 

300 yards e;i8t 

400 yards west 

800 yards west 

1,200 yards west 

1,400 yards west 

1,600 yards west 

2, 100 yards west 



1.021 

1.024 

1.027 

1.031 + 

00 

1.016 



*Much over 1.031, the highest reading on salinometers used. 

On the line returning from the promontory to Bear Eiver the density 
fell from 1.0105 at the promontory to 1.0015 half a mile east-northeast. 
The entire area of Bear Eiver Bay north of this point, as determined 
by the investigatiou, is practically fresh. The fresh water aj)parently 
extends farther south near the promontory than on the eastern shore, 
this being accounted for by the western sweep of the main discharge 
from the river. 

At the mouth of the Jordan the full breadth of the "neutral zone" 
was not ascertained, as a boat was not available for making the obser- 
vations. The following is the record : 



Station. 



Location. 



No. 1 1 Off east mouth of river 

2 ' 300 yards from No. 1 

3 450 yards from No. 1 

4 550 yards from No. 1 

K ('650 yards from No. 1 

\Same place 5 minutes later . 



Density. 


Depth. 




Inches. 


1. 0008 


4 


1. 0020 


2 


1. OOCO 


6 


1.0110 


18 


1. 0090 


20 


1. 0140 


20 



It "was evident from the last reading and from the change observed 
in the color of the water that the salinity increased rapidly from station 
5 lakeward. It is probably an overestimate to state the width of the 
zone of water having the salinity 1.010 to 1.020 as 250 to 300 yards. 

In the cases of the Jordan and the Weber, the distances were esti- 
mated by iiacing; in Bear River Bay they were based upon distance 
per stroke traveled by the boat, and checked by reference to the topog- 
raphy of "The Knoll" on the i^romoutory. 

The effects of the general narrowness of the neutral zone and its 
erratic movement under the influence of the several agents discussed 
are important in their relation to oyster culture. A narrow body of 
water of a density between 1.010 and 1.020 could be utilized if its posi- 
tion were fixed, or the middle of a wide zone could be used if its maxi- 
mum oscillation were less than half its width, as in this case the middle 
belt would not be encroached upon by water either too salt or too fresh. 
Unfortunately, however, the amplitude of tbe oscillations is too wide 
for the maintenance of this condition, as was x)roved in the case of 



246 REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Bear River Bay, and iuferred from tlie data obtained and the testi- 
mony of informed persons at the mouths of the Weber and the Jordan. 

Even should there be found a limited area where the density condi- 
tions were such as could be endured by the adult oyster, it would 
nevertheless be impossible to establish self-sustaining beds — that is, 
beds annually replenished by young oysters produced thereon. The 
youug oyster is for the first few days of its independent existence a 
delicate free-swimming organism, about ^ro inch in diameter and 
extremely sensitive to sudden changes in its environment. A density 
variation of but a few degrees is sufficient to kill it, and the eggs are 
not even capable of efficient fertilization in water differing very much 
in salinity from that in which the parents lived. It can be readily seen 
that with an organism so fatally responsive to changes of environment 
there could be practically no hope of securing a successful set of young 
oysters, and the bed could only be maintained by annual importations 
from the seacoast. 

In Bear Eiver Bay the character of the bottom and the muddiness 
of the water are also unfavorable to oyster culture. On soft bottom, 
such as is found over most of this part of the lake, the oyster soon 
sinks and is stilled, a fate which also befalls it when there is a copious 
deposit of silt, such as occurs where the muddy water of the river meets 
the brine of the lake. 

At the mouths of the Jordan and Weber rivers the bottom is harder, 
and the water at the time of the writer's visit was much clearer; but 
during the high -water stage of spring the rivers deposit large quanti- 
ties of silt on the delta, just where it would be necessary to plant the 
oysters if it were attempted at all. 

In objection to the introduction of marine organisms into the waters 
of Great Salt Lake, it was urged that even if the water were diluted to 
the proper density the composition was so at variance with the compo- 
sition of sea water that the result would be fatal to marine animals 
placed in it. The following table shows the relative proportion of the 
various salts per 100 parts of solid matter in sea water and the water of 
Great Salt Lake : 



Constituents. 



XaCl 

MgCl, 

Xa.SOi , 

MgSOj 

CaSOj 

K,S04 

MgBr, 

CaCoj 

LiSOi 

FaOa and Al^Os 

SiO, 

Surplus SO3 



Sea water.' 



77. 758 
10. 878 



4.737 
3.600 
2.465 
0.217 
0.345 



Salt Lake Salt Lake 
water.t water. ^ 



83. 727 
6.530 



2.264 
3.576 

3.801 



100. 000 



0.070 
.002 
.008 
.022 



80.5 
10.3 
5.4 



1.4 
2.4 



* Dittniar. 



t Waller, 1892. 



: Talmage, 1889. 



EXAMIXATIOX OF WATERS OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 247 

From the foregoing' table it will be observed that the sea water and 
Salt Lake water do not differ so greatly in the relative amounts of their 
solid constituents as is generally supposed. Both are characterized by 
the great preponderance of common salt. The principal difference is 
in the character of the sulphates — magnesium and calcium sulphates 
predominating in sea water, and sodium sulphate being present in 
Salt Lake water. It will be noticed that sodium sulphate is not 
regarded as a probable constituent of Salt Lake water by Waller, 
although it is a well-known fact that during cold weather it is thrown 
on the shores in quantities available for economic purposes. Sodium 
carbonate and sodium bicarbonate, the "soda" which jjroduces the 
alkalinity of many of the lakes of the arid regiou, are absent in the 
waters of both the sea and Great Salt Lake. From an inspection of 
the analyses there appears to be no warrant for the objection that the 
divergent composition of marine and Salt Lake waters would render 
the latter ill adapted or inimical to animals accustomed to life in the 
former, provided that the same density holds in each case. As has 
been already mentioned, it was found by laboratory experiment that 
marine diatoms would flourish in properly diluted Salt Lake water. 

A partial experiment with fishes was made with a small quantity of 
Salt Lake water shipped to Washington through the kindness of a 
correspondent. The quantity was too small for a conclusive trial, but 
so far as it went the result was unfavorable, the fish showing distress 
after a short stay in the water, and dying within two days of the time 
of their introduction. The density of Salt Lake water was reduced to 
the same degree (1.016) as the salt water in the aquaria m which the 
fish had been living, so as to minimize the shock resulting from the 
transfer from one jar to the other. 

The salts in Great Salt Lake are derived from the fresh- water streams 
and from the fresh and brackish springs fiowing into it or discharging 
in its bottom. The proportion of saline matter in most of the streams 
is low, although in excess of that usually found in more humid regions, 
but many springs rising near the rim of the lake are more heavily 
charged with salts. Some of these have been already discussed and the 
amount of their salinity indicated, but others of thermal character are 
much more saline. It is stated that all of the springs arising in the 
Bonneville beds are brackish. As the lake is without an outlet and 
all of its surplus water is removed by evaporation, the salts accumu- 
late, and by a process of concentration the waters have reached the 
condition of a brine. Certain salts of limited solubility and abundant 
supply have reached the saturation stage and are being precipitated, 
while others less abundant in the surrounding formations, or more 
soluble, are still accumulating. The determination of the period of 
accumulation of salts now in the lake is a complex one, "but we can 
safely say that the period necessary to charge the lake with common 
salt by means of the present sources and rate of supplj' is not more 
than li5,0()0 years."* 



* Gilbert, Grove Karl. Lake Bouneville. U. S. Geol. Survey. Mouograph I, 1890. 



248 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

During the writer's visit to Great Salt Lake be several times heard 
the opinion expressed that the extraction of salts from the lake through 
the several agencies acting in that direction would in time result iu a 
reduction of its density to a degree which would solve the problem of 
the introduction of marine forms. 

Salts are deposited by the lake principally in three ways: {a) by 
desiccation on the flats covered by the water during stages of elevation; 
{h) by supersaturation, especially at reduced temperatures and low 
stages; (c) by human agencies in the process of salt-making. 

In times gone by, when the lake was undergoing rapid shrinkage, 
quantities of salts, great in the aggregate when we consider the area 
involved, were left upon and in the soil of the exposed bottom, and even 
during the comparatively small shrinkage between 1869 and 1898 an 
appreciable quantity of the lake's saline constituents was left upon the 
flats. In some cases these materials are so entrapped in the soil that 
they are not again readily dissolved, but a considerable quantity is, under 
usual circumstances, returned to the lake by leaching. Common salt 
is also thrown down in jilaces along shore by the concentration of the 
water on the shallows by evaporation. 

Certain of the saline contents of the water are but sparingly soluble, 
and the addition of the annual increment from the inflowing streams 
causes sui)ersaturatiou and consequent precipitation. This is the case 
with carbonate of lime, which is thrown down as oolitic sand, and 
sodium sulphate, which is cast upon the shores in winter when the sol- 
vent ])roperties of the water are reduced by its low temperature. The 
sodium suljihate is largely redissolved when the temperature of the 
water rises, but there is doubtless a constant loss due to the mechan- 
ical mixture of some of it with sand and mud thrown up by the waves. 
It is sometimes collected along shore in winter for commercial purposes. 
The amount of saline matter annually lost to the lake through the 
agencies just discussed can not be estimated, and the opinion as to the 
future adaptability of the lake to marine organisms was not based upon 
these agencies, but upon the removal of salt for the use of man. See- 
ing the great quantities of salt at the salt ponds and not appreciating 
the vast stores of the lake, the mistake is not unnatural. About 50,000 
tons of salts are annually taken from the lake for commercial puri)oses, 
but less than 84 per cent, or about 42,000 tons, of this is sodium chlo- 
ride. Basing the calculation upon Gilbert's estimated accumulation 
period of 25,000 years, the annual influx of sjilt from the tributaries of 
the lake is about 16,000 tons, making the net loss about 26,000 tons. 
The lake at jiresent holds about 400,000,000 tons of common salt, with 
a water density of 1 .108. A greater density than about 1.020 is not 
favorable to the oyster, and to reduce the lake to that ilegree of salinity, 
its volume remaining unaltered, would necessitate the extraction of 
about 360,000,000 tons of sodium chloride, and at the present rate of 
loss this would require a period of nearly 14,000 years. It is not con- 
sidered that the prospect is such as to require very serious attention at 
j)resent and the niceties of computation have been neglected. 



EXAMINATION OF WATERS OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 249 
CONCLUSIONS. 

The iDain body of the lake and a large i)art of its shores are entirely 
unfit for the introduction of marine animals of economic value, owing 
to the high salinity of the water. The proportional constitution of the 
saline contents of the waters of Great Salt Lake is not vastly different 
from that of salt water. Great Salt Lake is salt and not alkaline. 
The physiological effect of its waters upon organisms placed therein 
probably would not seriously differ from that of sea water were it not 
for its high density, but to attempt to introduce fishes or other marine 
animals into water having a specific gravity of 1.168 when they have 
become adapted by nature to a density of but 1.025 would be an utter 
waste of effort. 

In the Deseret Evening JSTews of October 4, 1S92, a scientist of Salt 
Lake City is quoted as follows : 

The fear that scientists have expressed that fish will not live in the lake is entirely- 
groundless. Of course they would have to he introduced gradually, hut that can he 
successfully done. They can be acclimated by degrees. 

It is not stated how the fishes are to be "acclimated by degrees," 
and the speaker apparently bases his opinion uj)ou his repetition with 
Artemia gracllu of the experiments of Schmankewitsch and others upon 
the European species Artemia salina. It is well known that Artemia 
will live either in brine or fresh water, and in a few generations, and 
sometimes even in one generation, its form will become so changed by 
an alteration in density that it is referred to a different genus. Other 
phyllopods exhibit the same adaptability, but that fact does not furnish 
sufficient basis for a generalization such as has been quoted. 

Similar experiments have not been made with fishes nor with the 
higher crnstacea, although the anadromous species like the shad and 
the Atlantic salmon experience no ill effects from their periodic migra- 
tion from sea water into the fresh-water rivers, and vice versa. Some 
years ago the United States Fish Commission made a plant of shad in 
the Jordan River, but, with the exception of one or two, the fish were 
never heard from. It is well known that the oyster will not thrive in 
water of full oceanic density. No oyster beds are found along our 
coasts at any distance from sources of fresh or brackish water, and in 
a density of 1.023, a salinity less than one-seventh that of Great Salt 
Lake, they jfre small and of very inferior quality, usually growing 
between tide marks, sometimes on the shores and often on i^iles, man- 
groves, and other fixed bodies to which they attach. 

The process of evolution has made the oyster an organism adapted 
to live in brackish or semisalt water, despite the fact that on our coasts 
there is ample opportunity for it to acclimate itself "by degrees'' to 
water of full oceanic density, or, on the other hand, for it to extend its 
habitat up the rivers into fresh water. 

Tlie optimum density for oyster-culture is between the specific gravi- 
ties of 1.010 and 1.020, which range in Great Salt Lake is to be found 
only near the mouths of rivers which How into the lake on the eastern 



250 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

shore. An inquiry disclosed that the position of the favorable zone 
fluctuates under the influence <if a variety of causes. During the his- 
toric period the level of the lake has undergone extensive oscillations, 
large areas of laud being flooded during periods of high water and 
conversely the bottom of the lake being laid bare at low-water stages. 
There is an annual oscillation having the same eftect in a minor degree, 
and the seasonal variation in the discharge of the rivers causes a wide 
range in the density of the lake near their mouths. Finally there are 
irregular variations due to the influence of the winds in driving the 
lake water up on sloping lee shores. 

If the conditions as found at any given time were constant there 
would be no difficulty in introducing such sessile marine organisms as 
the oyster, but the frequent, almost continuous, fluctuations in the 
density of the water make the attempt entirely unfeasible. It is not 
improbable that places could be found where a few adult oysters would 
survive, but the conditions are such as would inevitably prove fatal to 
the oyster fry which, as a free-swimming organism, would be certain 
to be wafted by the currents into water, on the one hand too dense, or 
on the other too fresh, to be withstood by its delicate and sensitive 
organization. The adverse and unsuitable conditions would also be 
sure to be reflected in the inferior condition of such adults as might 
be able to survive. 

The writer is convinced from his examination that neither self-sus- 
taining beds, replenished by their own reproductive activity, nor thos^ 
maintained by annual importations from the coast, as practiced by the 
planters in San Francisco Bay, can be introduced in Great Salt Lake 
with any assurance of commercial success. 

None of the brackish springs contain sufficient salt to be utilized in 
their natural condition, but there are reasons to believe, as has been 
set forth on page 240, that by excavating ponds their waters might be 
used. The expense would be great, however, and it is doubtful if they 
would prove to be commercially successful, even if their experimental 
feasibility should be proved. 

The objections to the planting of fish, oysters, etc., in Great Salt 
Lake are based on physical rather than biological conditions. There 
is an abundant food supply, the water teeming with brine shrimps and 
insect larvtB. The available fish food exceeds in quantity that usually 
found in the sea, its abundance being largely due, no doubt, to the 
fact that there are no flsh to consume it. The lake is also exceedingly 
rich in minute plants, especially diatoms which constitute the chief 
food of the oyster, but from a practical i>oint of view this fact has no 
value when we are confronted by the absolutely xirohibitive physical 
conditions which the present examination disclosed. 

There is much greater probability of attaining valuable results by 
introducing cat-fish into the fresh sloughs near the mouths of the rivers 
than by attempting the introduction of marine species into the lake. 



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